As the Afghan parliament rejects most of President Karzai's nominees for cabinet, we hear from Kabul correspondent Jon Boone about the president's battle to fulfill the expectations of different parties.

Green campaigners' dream of a supergrid to unite the renewable energy resources of northern Europe may soon become a reality. The Guardian's Alok Jha has the details.

As Britain and America close their embassies in Yemen, diplomatic editor Julian Borger analyses the threat and how the US and Britain hope to counter it.